Davidson Matches Season-High in Win at Howard

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sophomore Ann Fucigna (Darien, Conn.) matched her season-high with five goals and six Wildcats in all had multi-goal games on the afternoon in carrying Davidson to a season-high tying 21 goals during a 21-5 National Lacrosse Conference road win at Howard on Sunday.

Davidson (5-8, 2-2 NLC) snapped its three-game losing streak as it evened its NLC mark and remained perfect against the Bison (0-10, 0-4 NLC) in the all-time series at 9-0. The 'Cats netted a season-best 13 first-half goals and never looked back in scoring their biggest win of the season.

After being held to just one goal last game out vs. Detroit, Fucigna scored four of her five goals in the first half to push her season total to a team-best 33.

Erin Keitel (Carlsbad, Calif.), Erin Doherty (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Emily Cooke (Woodstock, Md.) each netted three goals, while Paige Logan (Garden City, N.Y.) and Alanna Parker (Spring Valley, Calif.) rounded out the multi-goal scorers on the day with two goals apiece. Keitel finished with five points after picking up a team-high two assists, while six other 'Cats picked up single assists.

Howard was led by Cynithia Smalls two goals, while Cheryse and Jaymie Cox along with Courtland Lackey netted one goal each. Smalls finished with thee points as she picked up an assist.

Davidson fired off a season-high 37 shots and went a season-best 7 for 10 on free-position shots, with Keitel (2 for 3) and Parker (2 for 2) combining to go 4 for 5.

Logan and Keitel started the scoring early, hooking up just 45 seconds into the start of the game as the defender Logan netted her first goal of the year off a pass from Keitel. Shortly thereafter, Keitel scored one of her own off a free-position attempt.

Davidson pushed its lead out to 4-0 behind Doherty's back-to-back scores at the 27:05 and 24:56, one off a pass from Emily Rademacher (Lynchburg, Va.).

Howard would finally get on the board at the 22:49 mark and added one more score 47 seconds later to make it 5-2. But, the Wildcats offense got rolling again with Fucigna hitting the back of the net twice off assists from Liz Edwards (Cincinnati, Ohio) and Keitel. It started a 5-0 run to pushed the lead out to 10-2. Also scoring in the spurt was Jenna Mugele (Baltimore, Md.) and Mary Leonard (Hendersonville, Tenn.).

Coming out of the break up 13-4, Cooke netted the first of her two second-half goals just 12 seconds into the new stanza for a 14-4 lead. Howard countered with a quick strike of its own as Smalls hit her second goal of the game at the 28:27 mark.

It was all Davidson then after Smalls goal, rattling off seven unanswered goals in the last 27:30 of the half for the easy 16-goal win. Catherine Schmidt (Bridgewaters, N.Y.) topped off the 7-0 run by being the ninth Wildcat to score on the afternoon with her fifth goal of the year on Doherty's 10th assist of the season at the 3:16 mark.

Davidson's defense was solid, forcing eight turnovers, picking up 12 groundballs and 17 draw controls. Erin McGuire (Bishopville, Md.) had her best game of the season with three groundballs, three caused turnovers and four draw controls.

Jessica Melby (Pittsburgh, Pa.) played all 60 minutes, earning her fourth win of the season between the pipes. She stopped three shots and allowed a season-low five goals.

The Wildcats return home for their final two home contests, starting April 20 against Longwood at 7:00 p.m. They will then host Liberty Sunday, April 22, for Senior Day at 1:00 p.m.